


A Spectre Calls

by Fantasyenabler



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Eddie Lives, Fix-It, Gen, Ronnie Lives too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 17:31:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5384303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasyenabler/pseuds/Fantasyenabler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've been waiting for someone to jump on this particular angle and write a fix-it for the way season one ended for months now. Since no one has, I'm ignoring the other writing I should be working on to finally get it out of my system.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Spectre Calls

When Barry ran up to try to shut down the singularity currently circling over Central City, the last thing he'd expected to feel was a sense of eeriness, of creepiness. Like he'd just raced across someone's freshly dug grave or used his speed to desecrate a church. He supposed it could all just be a bit of an emotional hang-over, a resonance created by all the death he'd seen today and hadn't really been given a chance to process yet. His mother, Eddie, even Harrison/Eobard, for all that he'd well and truly hated the man by the time Eddie's sacrifice had caused him to disappear.

So, yeah, perhaps he could be forgiven for still having death on his mind right now. But he could not be forgiven for failing to focus, for failing to move as fast as he possibly could and save his city from the jeopardy his foolish choices had placed it in.

And so he ran and he ran and he ran. But even as he did, he could tell that his efforts weren't going to be enough. That all he was capable of was keeping the singularity from expanding, and that there was nothing he could do to force the singularity to close.

Thus, when Firestorm appeared in the sky beside him, a part of him knew exactly what was about to happen next. Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein were going to do what Barry could not do--they were going to save Central City--and just like with Eddie, there was a good chance Barry was about to lose one or both of his friends, as they sacrificed themselves so that the city wouldn't suffer for Barry's sins.

Well, Barry wasn't having it. He launched himself towards Firestorm, hoping that his proximity would force the others to hold off on whatever they were planning, to contain their energies out of fear of possibly hurting him.

And he could see that it had worked, for a few seconds anyway. But the look in Firestorm's eyes told him that the two minds inside the shared body had already reevaluated their plans, and that in a matter of moments, they were going to use their powers to push him away.

But he still had those moments. Moments which for a speedster were more than enough time to close his eyes and pray.

 _Please,_ he thought at anyone who might be listening. _Don't let them die. Eddie already paid for my mistakes today. Please don't make it so that Ronnie and Martin have to pay as well._

And for half a moment, he could believe something was listening. As he managed to get close enough to Firestorm to actually see the unnatural whites of his eyes.

But then he was falling, and somewhere above him, he heard Firestorm saying, "Good-bye."

 _No!_ he thought. _Oh, please, No!_

He was just about to give up any chance of getting both of them out of there alive when he suddenly noticed something. A circle of light opening up in the heart of the singularity, catching Firestorm by surprise, and stopping everyone and everything in its tracks. Including the singularity, it seemed, as its darkness began to fade and its spinning circles started to lose some of their devastating power.

The light though continued to grow, continued to expand, until finally a white-skinned, shirtless man in a green hooded cape and green tights appeared in the middle of it, his body glowing with a power that caused the strength of the singularity to diminish even more. "I am the Spectre," he said. "Mankind has called me many things down through the years. The Spirit of Vengeance. The Wrath of God. On this day, however, I am an agent of the Lords of Order, and I bring their power to seal this rift and deny the Lords of Chaos a potential entryway into this already far too disordered universe."

 _Okay,_ Barry thought, as he spun himself around and planted his feet on the edge of a nearby building, before speeding his way back up towards the singularity. _Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'll take it provided he can do what he promises._ He looked up at Firestorm, who appeared to be frozen in place, his mouth hanging open in awe. _And oh yeah, provided Ronnie and Martin don't get caught in the middle of whatever it is he's trying to do._

And since they didn't seem to be moving anytime soon, he decided to do a little bit more than just run towards them. "Firestorm!" he yelled. "You guys need to get out of there! Before you get trapped on the singularity's other side."

"Oh, yeah," Firestorm said, his head shaking, like both sides of his shared brain were just now getting their act together. "We're out of here," he said, as he dropped his altitude until he was level with Barry and reaching out a helping hand. "Here, man," he said. "Let us carry you, before you keel over and fall."

"I don't--" Barry began to say, just as his feet started to falter, his body finally giving in to all of the stresses he 'd put it through over the last day or so. "All right," he said, as he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around Firestorm's torso. "But don't land just yet. I want to see if this guy can actually stop the singularity first."

"'This guy?'" Firestorm asked, his brow furrowing for a second, then relaxing as a look of comprehension dawned in his eyes. "Oh, right," he said. "You were too far away. You didn't see."

"Didn't see what?" Barry asked, his gaze locked with Firestorm's.

Firestorm opened his mouth to answer.

Only to close it as a burst of light sprang forth from the singularity, its sudden appearance causing Firestorm to flinch and Barry to shout in surprise. 

"Whoa!" Barry yelled, as he and Firestorm shielded their faces with their hands. "What the hell was that?"

Then he turned towards where the singularity had been, and this time, he was the one whose mouth was hanging open. Because both the man and the singularity were gone. Like they had never been there, and like nothing had ever dared to eclipse the sun or darken the light blue sky.

"They vanished," Barry said, his arms inadvertently tightening around Firestorm's torso. "How in the Hell?"

"Actually, Mr. Allen," Firestorm said, his words taking on the tone that indicated Martin Stein was now in charge, "I'm thinking that Hell had very little to do with their disappearance." He started heading towards the ground, and as he did, Barry could see a look of puzzlement growing behind his eyes. "In fact, I believe that once we've all had a chance to collect our breath, I'm going to need to do some research, as both a scientist and as a rabbi."

"Wait, what?" Barry asked, as they touched down on the same patch of grass Ronnie and Caitlin has used for their impromptu wedding earlier. "Science I can understand, but why the other?"

He released his hold on Firestorm, and when he did, Firestorm took a step back, and stared up into the sky, an expression of wonderment slowly creeping over his face. "Because, Mr. Allen," he said, "if what Ronald and I saw was not a delusion, then the dead have returned to walk among us. And I don't know about you, but I have yet to come across any scientific explanations as to why that might be."

He continued staring up into the sky, his gaze focused on where the singularity used to be, as if he was waiting for Barry to ask him just what he meant by that. And truly, Barry was going to ask him.

Just as soon as his heart stopped beating so loudly. And as soon as his hands stopped shaking. And as soon as he convinced himself that what he'd just heard couldn't possibly mean what he thought it might mean.

Thankfully, Ronnie saved him, as he and Martin separated into their individual bodies, and he turned to Barry and said, "Eddie's alive, Barry. I don't know how, but somehow, he's alive."

Barry let go of the breath he'd been holding. "Alive?" he asked, his legs wobbly in a way that had very little to do with all of the running he'd been doing. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Martin said, as his face slid into a more thoughtful expression. "Obviously, whatever force brought him back changed the color of his skin, his hair, and his eyes, but his facial features are still the same. And even his voice is the same, once you learn to tune out the odd roaring sound that underscored all of his words."

"Well, that's good," Barry said, even as he saw something that made him not so sure of his words. Iris and the others were running towards them from the parking lot, at a pace that ensured that they'd be there in just a few minutes. Which meant Barry needed to figure out exactly what he and the other two were going to tell them. "Because if I've learned anything over the course of the last year or so, it's that keeping important secrets is a bad thing to do." He watched as they got closer before turning to face the other two men. "So if we tell them what you two saw, and it turns out that you were wrong--"

Ronnie shook his head. "We're not wrong, Barry," he said. "We might not be able to explain what we saw, but we know that we did see it." He glanced at Martin, and the two of them shared a look. "We just need to figure it out, and I'm sure once we tell Caitlin and the others, they'll be more than happy to help us with that."

Barry took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay," he said, as Iris and the others drew closer. "Okay," he said again.

He nearly jumped when Martin dropped a hand down onto one of his shoulders. "Do not worry so, Mr. Allen," he said. "I can't explain my reasoning, but somehow I feel that this will turn out to be a good thing, that whatever forces are at work here are benevolent rather than malicious."

Barry bit his lip and sighed. "And I really, really want you to not be wrong about that," he said. "But after everything that's happened--" He shook his head. "I just don't know how hopeful I can be right now."

Martin dropped his hand and tilted his head in a way Barry had seen him do whenever he was about to lay out a logical argument. "Then consider this," he said. "We may not know the nature of the force involved, but we do know the nature of Detective Thawne's character before he died. We know that he was a good man, and I think we can feel safe in believing that he would not willingly become the agent of something evil." He spread his hands before him. "Thus, I feel that we can start our investigations by hypothesizing that he has been asked to become the host of some sort of, of righteous spirit, if you will. An agent of power, one who perhaps requires a mortal connection to keep it tethered and to keep it walking on the path its creators intended for it to follow."

Barry found himself smiling despite himself. There was just something about Martin that made you want to believe in the ideas he came up with. "All right," he said. "We can start there, I guess." He canted his head towards Iris just before she walked into ear shot. "But we need to make sure everyone understands it's just a hypothesis. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up more than we have to."

"I understand," Martin said, as he stepped back and placed his hands down by his sides. "I promise we will be very forthright in the nature of our investigation."

Barry nodded, even as he started to consider what he was going to say to Iris and Joe and the others in just a few moments.

It was kind of crazy, he thought. But if Martin was right, they might actually have caught a break and ended up with a bit of good crazy rather than the bad kind for a change.

He supposed he'd just have to try to believe, he thought, as he watched Caitlin run into Ronnie's waiting arms. As he watched Martin smile at the sight of the two of them together. There was just something about the three of them that made him hopeful somehow, that made him want to take back every positive emotion Eobard had beaten out of him and call them his own again.

Maybe everything was going to turn out okay, he thought.

Maybe in spite of everything, it was still okay for all of them to want to hope, to want to trust, and to want to believe.

**Author's Note:**

> The Spectre, of course, is a superhero from the comics, a supernatural entity who does have to be bonded to a dead mortal in order to keep himself from going crazy and destroying magic, or something similar. (He did do just that when he went without a host for a while.) His first host, Jim Corrigan, was a murdered cop, as was his third host, Crispus Allen. So I thought it was appropriate that Eddie would be chosen as well.


End file.
